County woods closer to being eligible for federal funding

Thursday

Feb 21, 2013 at 3:15 AM

YORK COUNTY — Prospects for keeping more woods in commercial forestry in western York County have brightened.

The Maine Forest Legacy Committee has unanimously recommended to make the region eligible for federal Forest Legacy funding. The decision is subject to a public comment period and final approval by the U.S. Forest Service. If the recommendation holds, it means woodland owners whose property holds significant conservation values will be eligible to compete for funding.

Expanding geographic eligibility came in response to a request from Forest Works!, the working forest conservation project.

“This is good news for woodland owners looking for options for keeping their woods in commercial forestry,” said Lee Burnett, the Forest Works! outreach coordinator. “This program has been restricted to northern Maine, but the Maine Forest Service helped us make a good case that our region is just as deserving of this funding.”

Forest Works! has been working to facilitate a working forest conservation easement with several forest owners of significant woodlands in the region.

The Legacy Program provides funding to purchase conservation easements from willing sellers to protect forest lands that face conversion to alternative uses. In order to expand geographic eligibility, the Maine Forest Legacy Committee had to be convinced that the western York County region is similar to the lands encompassed by the 1990 Northern Forest Land Study.

Among the factors considered were percentage of forested land, forest industry jobs, size of land ownership, wildlife habitat, water quality and conversion threats.

Donald Mansius, the director of forest policy and management for the Maine Forest Service, made the case that the region supports a vital woods industry (with 600 jobs) and that it is the home region for oak and pine, two “incredibly valuable resources.”

Most of the discussion concerned which towns to include. In the end, the committee recommended expanding eligibility to include Cornish, Limington, Limerick, Newfield, Acton, Shapleigh, Alfred, Lebanon, North Berwick and Berwick. Parsonsfield is the only York County town already eligible.